Photo by Jon Anderson.
April DeLuca, a founding partner of Magic City Law, is the 2023 president of the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce.
April DeLuca knows what it’s like to juggle responsibilities. She’s a partner in a family law firm, has been married 13 years and has three children 5 and younger, and now she’s the new chairman of the board for the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce.
“Pray for me, please,” she told the Hoover chamber in her first luncheon as chairman, noting her young children.
DeLuca is the first woman to lead the chamber’s board of directors since 2012, when hotel manager Kathleen Spencer was president.
DeLuca said she’s proud to represent women in a role like this and honored to be able to serve as chairwoman.
“There have been a lot of great people in this role,” she told chamber members when she began her duties. “I’m just very humbled that y’all have chosen me to kind of help step in there.”
DeLuca has been involved with the chamber since 2014, serving as chairwoman of the chamber’s ambassadors for two years shortly after joining. She then became the chamber’s legal advisor in 2016 and in 2021 was named second vice chairwoman, which put her in line to become president this year.
DeLuca follows David Custred, director of operations for American Computer Consultants, who was chairman last year. DeLuca said she’s had the opportunity to watch a lot of leadership styles over the years and learn from each leader.
“I’m very excited to take this next step and be part of some changes we have coming that are going to shape the future of this chamber,” she said.
The chamber in May of last year launched a new three-year strategic plan called Elevate Hoover with three key goals: fostering economic growth, being a stronger voice for businesses and cultivating talent in the workforce.
“We’ve done a lot of work, but we’re only getting started,” DeLuca said.
Historically, the Hoover chamber has been known as a networking group, DeLuca said.
“That’s still going to be a part of what we do, but we don’t want that to be the only thing we do,” she said.
The chamber wants to champion initiatives to help the city grow and prosper economically, she said. The city’s economic development department, under the leadership of Greg Knighton, has done a great job of creating a positive business climate, she said.
For example, Knighton’s team developed a central hub to help businesses get started or expand in Hoover, providing information about things such as business licenses, taxes, zoning and permits for construction and food and alcohol sales.
Photo by Jon Anderson.
April DeLuca
Chamber leaders hope to strengthen that collaborative partnership and work hand in hand with the city, she said.
DeLuca was part of the 2022 graduating class of Leadership Hoover and helped with a project to create a database of all the businesses in Hoover. That database will be maintained and updated by the chamber and should serve as a resource for economic development and for business owners and event planners, she said.
The chamber also is looking to expand the services and programs it offers and find new ways for businesses to connect and invest in the chamber and the growth of the city, DeLuca said. Not everyone can break away from their business to attend a networking luncheon, but the chamber still values those people and their contributions, she said.
The chamber wants to help business owners with things such as startup tips and succession planning, and help individual employees with career advancement advice, DeLuca said. Recruiting and growing the kind of workforce that Hoover’s economy needs to thrive is another priority, she said.
DeLuca originally is from Prattville, graduating from Prattville High School in 2005 and Auburn University at Montgomery in 2008, with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and focus on accounting. She then graduated from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 2012.
She worked about a year for an investment banking advisory firm called FHL Capital before forming a law partnership with two other lawyers. That firm took on the name Magic City Law in 2014 and specializes in family law, such as divorce, adoptions, child custody, juvenile delinquency, dependency and assisted reproductive technology contracts.
